By 11 runs, Sydney Thunder 182 for 6 (Rossouw 39, Sams 36*, Bazley 4-22) defeated Brisbane Heat 171 for 9 (Munro 98, McAndrew 4-31) in BBL match 19. A brilliant batting effort by Brisbane Heat opener Colin Munro was unable to save the bottom-placed club from losing another BBL match against the Sydney Thunder.
Munro 98 in vain as Thunder holds nerve at the death
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Thunder triumphed again at Metricon Stadium on Thursday in BBL 12, defeating Heat by 11 runs despite Munro’s amazing 98. Thunder made the Heat rue their choice to bowl first by scoring their highest total of the season. However, the win came at a cost for Thunder, as strike bowler Gurinder Sandhu suffered a left calf injury when delivering the first delivery of the Heat innings, putting his fitness for Saturday’s encounter against the Hobart Hurricanes in question.
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Things appeared bleak for the Heat when they were reduced to 14 for 2 in the second over, but Munro remained unfazed, ensuring the Heat continued running at a steady clip with brilliant hitting while wickets fell around him. Munro batted just once for the Heat, hammering three sixes and nine fours and striking out 185 times in 53 balls. Unfortunately for the New Zealander, few of his colleagues stayed to aid with the run chase, with only James Bazley (29 off 24 balls) providing real support, combining for a 48-run sixth-wicket stand with Munro.
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BBL: Sydney Thunder defeated Brisbane Heat
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Heat’s needed run rate topped 12.5 when spinners Chris Green and Usman Qadir put the brakes on between the 13th and 16th overs, as they went 26 balls without a boundary. When Qadir had Bazley plumb lbw with 16 balls to go, Heat’s task got very tough. After a contentious ball change in the last over, Nathan McAndrew had Munro caught at deep midwicket – one of three wickets to fall in the space of five balls.
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Thunder’s overwhelming score was aided by late pyrotechnics from Daniel Sams, Alex Ross, and Oliver Davies. Sams was particularly lethal, slamming four sixes, including back-to-back sixes against Mitchell Swepson, one of which flew into the second tier. Earlier in the innings, Rilee Rossouw and Matthew Gilkes put up a 57-run second-wicket stand to build the groundwork for Thunder.
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James Bazley, the lone addition to the Heat’s line-up for this match, was the pick of the bowlers, taking 4 for 22 in four overs and completing a hat-trick in the fourth over. Wicketkeeper Gilkes also made one of the season’s best catches, diving to his left at full stretch and making a magnificent one-handed hold to remove Heat captain Jimmy Peirson, who was trying to hook McAndrew down the leg side.
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